


Stay

by roguelightning



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:41:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25090318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguelightning/pseuds/roguelightning
Summary: Helen just got engaged with John. Nikola is... not handling it well.
Relationships: Helen Magnus/Nikola Tesla
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Stay

His bed still smelled like her, he realized in horror. It was barely there, her scent, months after she had slept in it, but thanks to his heightened senses he could still feel it. It was both a blessing and a curse, really, reminding him of better days. Days when she could afford sleeping in his bed after working too much caught up with her. Days when it was just the two of them, with nobody to get between them. Not that there had ever been a them, as far as she was concerned. No, they were just friends, nothing more than that, which is why she expected him to be happy for her. Happy that she had found someone to love her, happy that she was engaged now. The word stuck in his throat, making him almost choke in it. Engaged. He felt his claws grow at that and he made no move to stop them. 

He didn’t stop them when they sank into his pillow, trying to claw her scent away, and he didn’t stop them when they tore down his bed, starting a storm of feathers around him. It did nothing to ease his pain away, however. He doubted anything ever was going to do that.

When he finished taking everything apart, he sat there, in the middle of his now ruined bed, trembling with anger. He was so taken with it he barely registered when the air cracked around him and the last two people he wanted to see at the moment materialized in his room. Well, actually it was only one of them he didn’t want to see. Jury was still out on her, but seeing that asshole in his room was more than enough to make him lose it.

“What are you doing here?” Nikola growled as he rose to his feet and faced him. Druitt was taller than him, but he still liked to think that being a vampire made him intimidating enough.

“Easy, dear boy,” Druitt said with a smug grin and Nikola suddenly felt the urge to split his face on the line of that stupid smile. The bastard knew, he realized in horror. He knew why he had torn his room apart, and the knowledge that he won was making him smug as fuck.

“I don't want to be here anymore than you do, for the record,” Druitt said as he raised his hands in defense. “But you know how my darling Helen is, she-“

“Your landlord called me,” Helen said with a sigh. “I may have told him that he should call me if you ever seem to be needing help. John was the fastest way to get here,” she explained, and it took all his will not to overreact at that. Instead, he turned his back at her, not wanting to think about the fact that her taking John to come to him had meant they had both been at her house. The mere thought of that made his skin crawl.

“Well, I don’t need help,” he spat at her. “So you two can leave and go back to whatever you were doing.”

“You heard him,” John shrugged. “I guess that settles it. Are you coming, love?” he said as he extended his hand to her, unable to smirk as he saw Nikola dragging one of his claws over his bedpost at the endearment.

“Go,” Helen said as she sat on Nikola's bed. “Don’t worry about me, I'll take a carriage back.”

“But it's almost midnight,” John protested. “I don't want you walking out at night and I most certainly don’t want you sleeping here with him.”

“You knew what you were signing up for,” Helen said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I can handle it. Now go.”

“But-“ John started protesting, but Nikola cut him off.

“You heard her, Johnny boy,” he said, his grin almost predatory at that. “She doesn’t want you here. As a matter of fact, neither do I.”

“Forgive me if I don’t want her to end up in a ditch with her throat cut off,” John spat at him. It almost sounded like a threat, but Helen dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

“Please, James was pretty clear about this. It’s not like the Ripper would want anything from me. He only targets whores, remember?”

“Exactly,” John said with a glare and this time it really sounded like a threat. She had no chance to answer that, however, because he disappeared into thin air.

“I’ll deal with that later,” she decided with a sigh. “Now, can you tell me what’s wrong with you?”

“You’re more than capable of walking the streets alone at night,” Nikola sighed. “Whoever this Ripper guy is, you've faced worse.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Helen said as a soft smile found its way to her lips. “But I didn’t come all this way to talk about him. So, care to explain to me why you did this?”

“I had a bad dream,” Nikola muttered. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It was just that his nightmare had become real lately.

“Have you been taking your medicine?” she asked and there was so much worry in her tone that it made him angry.

“Can you please not give me the doctor talk? I’m really not in the mood for that,” he spat at her, but she didn’t seem too phased by that.

“Alright,” she agreed. “Then tell me what you need,” she said, he couldn’t help letting out a bitter laugh at that. She had no idea what her words meant to him, and how could she? She was never going to see him as more than a patient. A friend, if he was really lucky. It still wasn’t going to be enough. But of course, she had no clue about that. 

That was probably the reason her breath hitched for a second when he turned to her and hugged her, awkwardly at first. She made no move to stop him, however, so he pulled her closer, burying his face into her shoulder as she encircled him with her arms. She stood like that for a while, barely flinching when his claws sank into her back, tearing her skin. It took him a while to realize what he had done, but when he did, he pushed her away, a horrified look on his face.

“Shit, Helen, I’m sorry,” he said, his voice trembling. “I have no idea what got into me,” he whispered. That was a lie, but he couldn’t afford her knowing that he had given in to that dark part of himself that wanted to mark her as his own. Lies. That was all that they were ever going to be, just because neither of them could afford the truth.

“It’s alright,” she said with a smile. “I knew what I was getting into when I offered to stay the night.”

“You did?” he asked and she only gave a small shrug at that. “Actually, John was right, staying by the night does sound more appealing than leaving out in the streets at the moment.”

“You just want to keep watch on me,” he said matter-of-factly, and he was grateful she respected him enough to not deny it.

“What kind of doctor would I be if I didn’t stay?”

“What kind of fiancée would you be if you stayed?” he challenged her, earning himself a glare at that.

“The kind that wants to have other interests besides being a housewife,” she spat at him. “Please, if John wanted a normal wife he should have known better than to ask me.”

“Not even he's that stupid to give you up,” Nikola sighed. “Not when he has you.” This earned him the ghost of a smile from her, but she made no comment on that. “Do you have something I can use to clean these up?” she asked as she pointed to her back.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any alcohol around,” he said and she rolled her eyes at that. 

“I have a feeling you have wine, though,” she teased him and he grinned despite himself. He reached under his bed and got a bottle of wine from there. He handed it over to her, along with a piece of cloth, but she shook her head at him. “I’ll need your help with that, I can’t reach,” she said as she turned her back at him.

It wasn’t like she was going to make this easy for him, he thought with a grumble as he worked on the zipper of her dress, exposing her back to him. He poured some wine on the cloth and passed it along her scratch marks, a pang of guilt hitting him as she flinched at that. He supposed they were both lucky that he was feeling guilty about the whole thing, because having her in his bed, her back drenched in blood and wine, made him all kinds of hungry.

“These might scar,” he sighed as he pulled her zipper back up.

“I hope they don’t,” Helen smiled. “i’m not going to be seeing John for a few days until they heal anyway. He’s not going to like this.”

“Good.” The word left his mouth before he had the chance to stop it. It made her frown a little.

“You know this doesn’t change anything, right?” she asked in a soft tone. “Me getting married, I mean. I’ll always be there for you. For all of you, I mean. All of The Five.”

“Right,” he said in a bitter tone. “And I suppose you’ll be taking housecalls too, if needed?”

“What does it look like I’m doing right now? As I said, anything you need.”

He gave no response at that, instead he lay down on what was left of his bed, turning his back at her.

‘’Do you want me to go?” she asked, her voice small at that, but he shook his head.

“Stay,” he said right before drifting to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> For Teslen appreciation week 2020, day 2. Prompt was Claws or Care, I kinda mixed them a bit :).


End file.
